Otho is a new pan-Asian place on Portland Ave. It's on the ground level of the Skyscape highrise condo tower in the Elliot Park neighborhood. I've been driving past it for weeks and the curiosity finally got to me last night, so I stopped in for a late dinner on the way home from the office. The architectural style of the place appeals to me. Very urban-loft feel, like my own building and the neighboring ones.
Wish I'd read some reviews beforehand because I ended up ordering the very dish the Strib dissed - the alleged Cantonese short ribs. Not as bad as they said, but hardly spectacular and I couldn't tell you what was Cantonese about it. It was very tender meat with a goodly amount of fat and gelatin, served on a bed of black bean puree with green and red bell pepper strips and flavorless mushrooms. Really jarring were the shaved slices of jalapeno on top. My appetizer was really tasty, though. Four open-face steamed pork dumplings, topped with crispy bread crumbs, in a nice soy and vinegar sauce of the sort usually served with gyoza.
Service was really weird. When I walked in the hostess asked me what table I'd like. I said I just wanted some light to read by. So she stuck me at the two-top right outside the kitchen door, facing that door., even though it had no more light than a number of other tables. It was jammed up against the wall on the right, too. I hate that, since I'm right-handed. I suppose I could have asked to be moved, but I went along with the program. Then my waitress was pretty clueless. I asked if the short ribs were served on or off the bone. She said on, but they were boneless. Mentioned the massaman curry as being unlike anything you could find in the cities. Well, I order it from Sawat Dee, eight blocks away, all the time. The style may be unique, but she seemed to be saying you could not get massaman curry anywhere else. Just clueless. The whole interaction went like that. She was clearly well-intentioned, but uninformed and/or poorly trained.
I would have liked a beer with my meal, but their bar menu showed only a few bottled beers, none of which appealed to me. But on the way out I noticed they had six taps, including Surly Furious. I stopped and chatted with the bartender for a few minutes, as he poured me tastes of a couple drafts. They have both early and late happy hours on weeknights, including a half-price martini deal from 9:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. on Thursday nights, so I might have to drop back in for the bar if nothing else. Well, actually, I want to give the menu some more extensive exploration too, so I'll definitely be heading back.
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